


Beer Pong

by countvustafa



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: College, Crush, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27643604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/countvustafa/pseuds/countvustafa
Summary: Buck sees Eddie from across the room playing beer pong.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz(9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 148





	1. Chapter 1

"Who is that?" 

"That's Eddie Diaz. He's new in Engineering. He transferred from Georgetown. And the current beer pong champion," says his half-drunk mate. 

Buck sizes up the handsome man at the end of the room. 

This Eddie guy has a good height. And he has a great fashion sense too. Of course, with that face, he can make anything look amazing, even a potato sack. Buck observes as this Eddie guy throws a girl a gleaming smile that shows off a perfect set of teeth and a powerful jawline. This Eddie Diaz is definitely not unattractive. And by the group of giggling girls around him, Buck knows. 

"I'm going to make my way there and introduce myself," says Buck, feeling a gush of competitiveness all of a sudden. 

"Be nice."

Buck shoots a playful grin, "I'm always nice." 

The tall blonde walks up to Eddie at the makeshift beer pong table. Upclose, Eddie is more attractive than from across the room. His eyes were dreamy brown and that face... Only god could carve those features. 

Buck pushes the losing guy out of the way and gives the new guy a grin. 

"I think we haven't properly met. I'm Buck," introduces Buck from the opposite side of the table. 

"Eddie Diaz, nice to meet you." 

"Should I call you Diaz?" 

"Not if you want me to answer," snarks Eddie in a playful tone. 

Buck forces a smile. He wants to jump from his end and give this newbie a lesson for mocking the great Buck. No one crosses him! Especially, not some overly attractive new guy from Georgetown University. 

"You wanna play some beer pong?" asks Buck, almost challengingly. 

"Haven't lost a match all night." 

"Oh, it's on." 

-.-.-

"For goodness sake, Buck. Wake up!" 

Buck pries open his heavy eyelids. He winces as the bright afternoon light awakens him. He feels the pillow underneath his head was suddenly snatched from him.

"Maddie, it's a holiday!" 

"Wake up, it's almost noon. And go shower, you smell like ass!" 

Buck grunts and tosses the covers off his body. Buck stretches his arms above his head, his body feels like it just ran a marathon. His bones cracked and his muscles were practically screaming at him. Walking to the toilet was like doing circus tricks. His body is so out of it he wishes he could rot under the covers for a few more hours. 

Once Buck showered and brushed his teeth, he joins Maddie in the kitchen. 

"So, about last night?" 

"What about it, Meds?" 

Maddie stares at her younger brother who is gulping coffee like a camel on water. 

"Is there something you need to tell me?" 

Buck fumes and shakes his head. He has no clue what Maddie is on about. Maddie gives him an annoyed look and passes him her phone. Buck takes the phone, almost dropping Maddie's phone as he sees a picture of himself and Eddie, obviously drunk, with Buck pressing a wet kiss on Eddie's cheek and Eddie grinning cheek to cheek. 

"So, when do I meet this Eddie guy?" 

"Oh, no. No questions please," whines Buck hiding his face with his hands. 

"Last night, you came into the house, sat by my bed and forced me to listen to all your pining about this guy, Eddie. You talked until it was three in the morning," reminds Maddie. 

"He's my soul mate, Maddie. I am in love," teases Maddie. 

Buck groans and blushes. The memory of last night suddenly flashes. He remembers coming home dead drunk after an amazing night, he woke Maddie up from her sleep and then went on and on nonstop about Eddie. How perfect Eddie was. How handsome he was. He wants to run his hands through Eddie's hair. Buck wants to have babies with Eddie, even if it's not biologically possibly now, but science will work it out for them in the future. 

"So, is this crush from Eddie means I'm going to be your best person at the wedding?" 

"Ha ha! That's funny."

Maddie throws a face at Buck. 

"You're the one who said 'Oh, I want to marry him, Maddie. I'll be the perfect husband. I'm hot, I'm great at sex and I make a mean apple pie'." 

Buck facepalms, "I didn't say that did I?" 

Maddie laughs, "Yes, you did. And I'm cutting out the x-rated part." 

Buck groans. 

"Enough. Go away!"

"Hey, it's my house." 

-.-.-

"Buck, there is someone I need you to meet," says Chim. "Hey man, over here!" 

Chim waves at his friend to join them at their table. 

Buck is in a foul mood that afternoon. In his American Civil Rights class, he got only an above-average grade for a paper because the professor deducted points for submitting late, and Buck had worked damn hard on it too. Plus, he has a couple of more papers due in a few days that he has not started yet. Juggle that with football training coming up next week, Buck is looking at sleeping only a couple of hours this few weeks. 

"Buck, meet Eddie. Eddie, Buck," introduces Chim. "He's in my faculty." 

Buck blinks as he is met with a familiar handsome god standing over him. He suddenly feels his mouth going dry and all the oxygen being sucked out of him. Is it possible that Eddie actually got more handsome?

"I think we've met before," says Eddie to Chim. 

"Oh, when?" 

"At Damien's party last week."

Buck blushes and takes out his hand. Eddie smiles politely and shakes his hand. Buck is lying if he didn't admit there was electricity as their hands touched. 

"Nice to see you again."

Eddie smiles at him, "Nice to see you too. This is great. How'd you guys know each other? The history and arts faculties are quite far from engineering." 

"He's dating my sister," states Buck monotonously. 

"Maddie is your sister?" asks Eddie incredulously. 

Chim nodded, "I know right. She's beautiful and amazing, and brilliant. And she makes the best almond cookies. And Buck is... Buck."

"Hey!" 

"How'd you know what faculty I'm at?" asks Buck curiously. 

Eddie suddenly presses his lips tightly. Buck's eyes might be playing him, but he is sure he sees redness on Eddie's cheeks. 

"You kinda told me somethings about you," says Eddie softly. "Loads of stuff." 

"Oh." 

Buck flushes, suddenly remembering him being all cuddled up with Eddie on the couch and telling him about how he wants to meet all of Eddie's family members. Not forgetting, the picture of him pressing a kiss on Eddie's cheek. 

"Eddie, Buck here is the captain of the university's football team. You thought about trying out for the team right?" 

Buck raises an eyebrow at them. 

"You play?" 

"All through high school," says Eddie proudly. "Brought the school a state championship title." 

"Dang! Why didn't you apply for the tryouts? We sent posters everywhere and shared that shit out online. Tryouts closed like two weeks ago. We would've loved to have you on the team," says Buck. 

"I was probably busy with admission and moving to a different dorm."

Buck frowns. 

"I'll definitely hit you up if we have tryouts again. We haven't trained the newbies yet. That's next week. People normally quit after the first few sessions. Most of them join for the sake of getting the full college experience. Whatever that means." 

"Appreciate it, man. Just hit me up. Do you have my number?" 

Buck instantly lights up. 

"I don't."

Eddie laughs. "Kinda regret not having your number after Damian's party."

"Yeah, me too." 

"Yeah."

Eddie punches Buck's number on his phone and sends an introductory message to him. 

"Ay, a wave emoji. A classic!" 

"I'm an old school romantic," says Eddie. 

"You're old. That's for sure," teases Buck. 

Eddie and Buck laugh in unison.

Chim watches from the sidelines as his two friends flirt around each other, feeling suddenly like a third wheel. 

-.-.-.-

"You should've seen him. He's so gushy and blushing. It's cute but pathetic."

Maddie laughs. 

"Can you imagine, Buck. Our Buck! The dunderhead that once bragged about how he can literally get a girl's number without saying a word, which he has done many times, being this giggly thing in front of Eddie," explains Chim. 

"It was super weird. I've never seen him so..." 

Chim pauses. 

"Giddy." 

"I think it's cute that Buck has a crush," coos Maddie. "He hasn't had any emotional attachment to anyone in a while."

Chim grunts and takes a good swing of his coffee. 

"Well good luck, Eddie." 

The door suddenly opens and Buck enters the house with heart eyes and a loopy grin on his face. He suddenly approaches Maddie in the kitchen and leans a loving kiss on her cheek. He then walks to Chim and almost presses a kiss on Chim' cheek, only to be pushed away by him.

"What are you doing?" 

"Isn't it a lovely day?" 

Buck grins from cheek to cheek. His bright smile lighting up the room. 

"So, why are you so happy?" 

"The world is just amazing you know. The sky is so blue. The birds are singing in the freaking morning. Everyone is so beautiful. Did you guys notice the dean looks wonderful in his grey suit? He looks so polished! By the way, Eddie wore a grey sweater today, he looked amazing in it. 

Maddie and Chim share a look at each other and facepalm in unison.


	2. Chapter 2

"Buck?" 

Eddie winces as he enters Buck's room. A disgusting mixture of smells engulfs his nose. He avoids the trash and mess in the room. A couple of unwashed socks on the floor, maybe some sweaty gym clothes, a pair of boxers. A bunch of old food carton in the bin. And finally at the corner, a stressed-out Buck with a couple of books laid in front of him.

"Buck? Man, it smells like someone died here." 

"Eddie?" 

Buck finally turns and notices Eddie in the room. He shoots a big smile at Eddie and then hunkers back to his book.

Eddie fumes. Buck never ignores him. Ever.

"You alright there?" 

Buck ignores him again. Eddie is now officially concern about Buck. He does look worse for wear. The bags under his eyes are heavy and he can use a good shave. His beard was coming out and his blonde hair needs a trim, Eddie wasn't used to a hairy Buck. 

"Buck!" 

The blonde snaps and faces Eddie again. 

Eddie can tell by his expression and body language that Buck is on the verge of exhaustion.

"Come on. You deserve an hour break," says Eddie calmly. "I brought food." 

Eddie shows him the pack of fried chicken that he brought from the corner store. 

A small smile emerges from Buck's face. 

"Fine." 

The best friends eat in comfortable silence. Eddie has forced Buck to open the curtains and windows, letting the fresh air in and the old air out. Instantly, refreshing the room. Eddie watches as Buck consumes the chicken wings like a vacuum cleaner. It amazed Eddie how much he was able to stuff in his mouth without choking.

"So, what's up? Why are you avoiding everyone," asks Eddie. 

Buck's eyes fell and he starts playing with his fingers. 

"I-I-I don't think you understand, Eds."

Eddie huffs and playfully touch Buck's shoulder with his.

"Try me."

Buck lets out a long sigh and runs a hair through his blonde locks. 

"I have so much to juggle right now. The pressure is just really intense. The matches are coming up and we have all the training. People are expecting me to get the team on the first win of the season, and it just... Not to mention, I'm having difficulty with a couple of classes. Professor Matoya is such a tough grader, he has this assignment that's worth like 20% of the entire grade. In my class, only one person got an average grade, and she's like a freaking genius. If I don't get a high enough grade in all my classes, my scholarship is done. I'm so tired, Eddie... I can't catch a break." 

Eddie notices Buck's shoulders slowly slumps. He touches Buck's shoulders with his again, loving the wonderful intimacy between them. 

"Buck, I see you out there in the field. You're a beast-" 

Buck grunts. 

"Everyone knows you're a tough worker. You destroy us every single time on the training field. And I got some scars to proof of that." 

Buck pouts and jerks his shoulder on Eddie's. 

"All I want to say is that... It's okay to relax. What you're doing right now, is alright. You are enough. There is a big difference between working hard and pushing yourself beyond your limits and exhausting yourself until you become too tired to do everything else. And I don't want that for you... You're special."

Buck stares at Eddie with his electric eyes and shoots him a smile. 

"Thanks."

"Anything for you." 

"Really. Thank you." 

It took every ounce of restrain for Eddie not to kiss Buck in his stinky messy room. 

-.-.-.-

The talk with Buck was all it took for things to get back to normal. Buck is back at it again, sending him weird memes, and rubbish trashy jokes again. They meet up almost every day. Mostly Buck barging into his room and telling him all about the gossip for the day. Eddie didn't mind, it was comforting for him. 

"By the way, I got a seventy-five on my paper for Professor Matoya," says Buck proudly. "A new school record." 

"I think I finally got the hang of it. It's all about writing facts after facts and then substantiating it with strong references that you can easily get from the university resources." 

Eddie makes a fake surprise face. 

"Oh, you don't say." 

"Come on. Don't be so high. We're all learning here. By the way, what's your high school grade?" 

"What you want to know?" 

Buck shrugs. 

"I got a 4.20," says Eddie softly. 

Buck almost fell from the side of the bed. He walks up to Eddie with a surprised look on his face. 

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

"That's like, Harvard material! Eds, what the fuck? You could have gone to Harvard and all those universities."

Eddie grins and shrugs, "I wanna be closer to home." 

"But your home is in El Paso, Texas.," says Buck curiously. 

"I mean my abuela's." 

Buck nods. 

"Well, what about you? What's your GPA?" 

Buck hides his face. And Eddie playfully presses his hands between the cracks of Buck's fingers and tries to pry his hands open. Buck cracks open and a wide smile. 

"I got a 4.1," says Buck meekly. 

Eddie laughs and hits Buck on the shoulder, "You son of a gun." 

"These biceps aren't the only muscle I work at," says Buck, raising his eyebrows playfully at Eddie. 

-.-.-.- 

It was the final match of the season. Buck, Eddie and the rest of the team are in the locker room, getting prepared. This is the final lap. The team has won most of their games and this is the finals. The endgame. 

There is an intense atmosphere in the locker room. Some of the boys are muttering prayers under their breaths. Buck calls Maddie one last time to chat. It is a habit for him, Eddie observes. Maddie and Buck are close. A rock. Funnily enough, Buck or Maddie never mentioned their other family members before. It is like there is only two of them. 

Eddie did a cross and mutters his prayer. 

May God protect him and mates from injuries and may God grant them victory. Amen! 

A lot is riding on this game. A couple of scouts for professional teams are in the stadium. Some of his mates are riding on this game to lead them to go professional. 

The coach gathers them around and the team huddles together, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder like brothers. 

"A word from the captain," points the coach. 

Buck stares at every single one of them. His eyes are burning with passion. He knows what is at stake. 

"Here we are. The final lap. We've trained hard all season for this. All those mornings in the gyms. All the nights training. All those sore days. This is it. So I want everyone to give all they got. No excuses. No restrains. This is it. This is our moment. And dude, I love you guys. All in, in 3, 2, 1..." 

Before they exit from backstage, Eddie catches Buck staring at him from the line. And he swears he could see redness in his cheeks. 

-.-.-.-

The gold trophy is standing proud and tall in the interview room. The coach and the dean of the university are answering some questions by the press. 

The players are in the locker room celebrating. A huge victory for them. It was an amazing match. The opposing team were equally as good as they were. By half time it was the opposing team were ahead by a couple of points. Eddie made an unexpected field goal which garnered them a tie. And then the final touchdown was by Buck at the last second, winning them the championship. 

"Alright. You get it?" 

"I think I got it." 

The team had pitched in on a videographer for today. Buck was inspired by a historical event where a captain burned his own ship in front of his army to show that there was no way out except forward. 

The videographer plays the song loudly in the room. 

Eenie Menie by Justin Bieber featuring Sean Kingston. 

The song plays in the background. 

Buck feels the song. He lip-syncs the lyrics to the beat. Expressing every word. Once the beat drops Buck dances to the team, where the entire team dances and sings to the song in unison. 

-.-.-.-.-

"Hey Eddie, you got a minute?" asks Buck. 

Eddie stops and looks at his mate. The rest of the team have already left early to join a party at one of the fraternities. Eddie has this thing where he cleans up after his friends in the locker after they had finished a game. Something to wind down after all the adrenaline rush. 

Eddie thought Buck has already left. 

"Well, I can't say I am surprised to see you're still here, Mr MVP. Don't you have a party to go to?" 

Buck smiles and hides his face in embarrassment. 

"Yeah, well. Couldn't have done it without you," says Buck softly. "So, I just want to say thank you." 

Eddie bit his lip. 

"For what?" 

"For everything. For sticking by me. For motivating me. For forcing me to get over myself when things take a turn. Everything." 

Eddie suddenly becomes speechless. 

"I don't think we could've won the championship if you didn't help me," says Buck softly. 

Eddie blushes and smiles. 

"Hey, come on. We have a party to go to." 

Buck smiles back as they walk shoulder to shoulder along the dimly lit corridor to the exit. 

"And..." 

Eddie pauses. 

"I have something to tell you," says Buck. 

Eddie observes his best mate. He suddenly starts looking at his shoes and avoiding Eddie's eye contact. The 6"2 giant suddenly looks so small again. Something must be bothering him. 

"What? You can tell me."

"I told myself that I have to this if we win the game. So here it goes..." 

Buck bites his lip and stares at Eddie. 

"This is so embarrassing. Gosh. I don't think I can-"

"Buck, just tell me."

Buck inhales. 

"I like you."

Eddie is definitely taken aback. 

"Not like in a friend-friend of way. No, that's wrong. I like you in a friend-friend of way. But... I was hoping that maybe we can be more of an I-want-us-to-be-more-than-a-friend type of way."

Eddie stares at Buck with furrowed eyebrows. Utterly speechless with what is happening between them right now. 

"This is ridiculous," exclaims Eddie, interrupting the situation. 

Buck's expression fell and you can hear his heart shattering into a million pieces. 

"Eddie, I understand that if you don't have feelings for me I know. We can still be best mates." 

"You're an idiot."

Buck stops midway. Eddie sighs and closes the distance between them. 

"I was supposed to ask you out tonight after the party to the diner where we had our first midnight take out. And there I was going to confess my feelings for you. I had it all planned. Milkshake. The expensive burger and fries combo. And we're going to stargaze after that and breakfast... I booked the same spot we had our first meal together. And you ruined it."

An impossibly wide smile appears on Buck's face. 

"You like me?" 

"I couldn't be more obvious can I?" 

Buck bits his lips, suppressing with all his might to scream in ecstasy at what was happening. He stares at Eddie again, just to be sure that this wasn't some sick fantasy. Even if it is, he doesn't want to wake up from it. 

Buck and Eddie continue walking down the dimly lit corridor. Shoulder to shoulder. Just the two of them in comfortable silence. Both not wanting this moment to ever end. 

"So, what did you plan after we were stargazing?" asks Buck. 

"Making out under the stars," says Eddie bluntly. 

Buck's heart suddenly stops beating. 

"Well, you can. I mean we can. Do it. here." 

Eddie smiles and closes the distance between them.


End file.
